Cigarette making machine



May 22, 1951 E. F. QETlNGER 2,554,379

CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 26, 1945 l l, :if I) Patented May 22, 1951 UNITED STAT ES PAT ENT' OFF-ICE CIGARETTE MAKING-MACHINE Elmer F. Oetinger, Buffalo, N. Y.

ApplicationfFebruary 26, 1945; Serial N:-579,697-

4 Claims.

Thisl inventionprelates to certain new and useful imp rovements in machines or devices for makingwcigarettes.

It has for one of itsobjects to provide a cigarettemakingmachine which has been primarily designed for domestic use, vwhereby individuals can easily and expeditiously make cigarettes for their own use.-

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable-machine of this character which is simple, compact,A and inexpensive in construction, which is reliable in operation, and which embodieseiective means for chargingV and uniformly tamping the tobacco in a paper tube or Wrapper and for nally ejecting the finished cigarette from the machine.

A furtherobject is-to providea motor-driven cigarette-makingA machine having means for automatically rcutting `off vthemotor `and stopping operation of thefmachiner` upon kthe completion of its making a cigarette.

A still furtherobject is to provide the machine with releasable meansforcretaining the wrapper or tube in place duringy the tobacco-chargingA operation and at a predeterminedtimeautomatically releasingsuch retainingjmeansfto free the nished cigarette'for ejection from the machine.

Other featuresl of theinvention reside in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described andy particularly pointedv out in the appended claims.4v

In the accompanying` drawings:

Figurerl is a sideelevation of the cigarette making machine embodyingA my invention. Fig

In the preferred Vembodiment of my inventiony shown in the drawings, the same comprises a frame or housingA IOof substantially theshape shown, and vhaving, at one side thereof acover plate II. variousworking parts of the machine, Whichcis compact, light and portable and ,may be supported on a table or the like and detachably clamped thereto when it is desired lto make a v batch of cigarettes. Ancelectric motor. I 2 is mounted'at onegside andadiacentA the rear end of the frame, While a substantially funnel-shaped' Theframe supportsand houses the` hopper I3A is mounted at the upper-front orioper.-

ating end of the machine toreceivealsupplysof tobacco and leading. fromcthelower.-endithereof isY a tubular .discharge spout.. I4 Lon which apre--y formed Vcigarette Wrapper I5. .is vremovablyzsup.-

ported in telescoped relation.. therevvithto.v receive a charge of. tobaccof.and-thereafter be ejected therefrom as a=inishedifproductready for` smoking. Assshown,v thek front @orgoperating end: of the frame isA preferably inclined at a convene` ient angle to thevertical.'

Guided in the upper front endof` theframeIIll for operation in the -adjoiningside-of thehopper and its discharge spout` III.` is a reciprocating tobacco yfeecliplunger. IBS which serves Ato agitate as. Well as-direct and tamp ther tobacco into the cigarette Wrapper, and Whicl-i'- further.: functions, ata predeterminedtime-in the'charging operartion, to` gradually force'the charged Wrapper,

axially in a step bystep fashion fromfthe-dis charge spout. Thisplunger is prefer-ablytaperecl, as --shown,l to properlyelfect the free feed ofthe tobacco into. the wrapper and is `provided on its operatingface 'with iserrations'- I -'I Yforming down -sWardly-facingishoulders Which `intercept portions of the tobacco and lforce itdownwardly into the Wrapper. Uniform motion is Atransmitted to the plunger byany suitable means,1-V for: example, byY

an eccentric Iii-fixed on.ashaftf-I9Yjournaled.in the frame IIJ and driven from thefelectric motor I2 Aby abelt and pulley--drive.2:,and by a vertically-swinging; eccentric-engagingstrap or lever.` 2I fulcrumedat one-end toa pivotv 221 and-icon nected at it's other-.end'byf-a link 23toan eXten-A sion 24 offtheplunger. Thestrap-pivotis preferably adjustable to raise or` lower the operating stroke of the plunger, WhenfWorking. With Wet or. dry tobacco, respectively, and for. this purposev such pivot is guided inanv arcuate slot- 25 in they side wallof the frameand secured inan--ad'r justed position-thereinl by clampingrnuts 25applied to the threaded outer endof such part. The strap 2| has a rearward extension Z''WhichA extends through a'vertical slot 28 'in the rear'end of the casing and servesas a handle for manually shifting the strap tothe adjustedposition -desired. For Idry tobacco; thevplungerl, throughl the adjustmentof the'strap-pivot is set in its" discharge spout I4 during the initial tobaccocharging operation, I provide a releasable retaining or clamping member 29 which isxsuitably guided for horizontal movement on the frame IG and has a spring 30 connected thereto for normally urging such member outwardly or into clamping engagement with the wrapper. This spring may be attached to a bolt 3l for readily effecting its adjustment to the retaining pressure desired. A pendant arm 32 pivoted at 33 to the frame and joined at 34 to this wrapper-retaining member serves, when displaced inwardly in the manner presently to be described, to Withdraw such member from its wrapper-retaining position, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, to free the wrapper for downward displacement on the discharge spout during the final charging operation, the plunger i6 acting on the tobacco then contained in the wrapper to effect such displacement.

Disposed in Vspaced axial relation below the discharge spout I4 for abutting engagement with the lower end of the cigarette wrapper during the charging operation is a depressible pad or member 35 formed atV the free end of a verticallyswinging lever 36 pivoted at 3l in the lower portion of the frame and extending intermediate its ends through a slot 36a in the housing lil. This lever is normally retained in Vits upper position, shown by full lines in Figure 3, by a latch 38 rlxedly applied thereto and engaging a notch 39 in the lower outer edge of the pendant arm 32. That edge 46 of this arm leading downwardly from its notch functions as a cam so that when the lever 3B is depressed in step by step fashion by the action of the plunger and the intervening tobacco core in the partially-filled wrapper, it is released from such notch and-the latch thereupon acts against the cam-like edge 43 to rock the pendant arm 32 inwardly to release the retaining member 23 from clamping relation with the cigarette wrapper. During the initial stage of the charging operation, the tobacco core, in the open-ended wrapper shown, may project slightly downwardly beyond the wrapper. As the plunger continues its reciprocating movement, it tamps the tobacco in the wrapper and as the latter is filled it is intermittently forced downwardly with Athe lever 3E moving jointly therewith. When the v wrapper is filled, this lever is in its lower position shown by dotted lines in Figure 3, and the upper end of the cigarette wrapper is substantially in registration with the lower end of the discharge spout and in such position as to be readily removed by hand from the machine.

Included inthe circuit of the motor i2 is a cut-oir switch 4l which is adapted to be'automatically opened Vto stop the machine when the lever 36 reaches its lower position and the cigarette is completed. For this purpose this depressible lever has a projection 42 thereon, preferably of insulating material, whichis adapted to enter between the Vswitch-contacts Vto Ybreak the motor circuit, when the lever reaches the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 3. After removing a completed cigarette, an empty wrapper is telescoped on the discharge spout I4 and the lever 35 is manually'swung to its initial raised position, which causes the switch 4I to automatically close and start the motor for making another cigarette. n Y

'lf desired, themotor may be eliminated and the operating shaft I9 be turned by hand by providing it with a suitable crank handle..

While manifestly simple, compact and inexpensive in construction, this machine is so de-v signed as to expeditiously make cigarettes of uniform quality and it is easy to operate and not liable to get out of order.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cigarette making machine, comprising a tobacco-receiving hopper having a cylindrical discharge spout adapted to removably support a tubular wrapper in communicating relation thereto, a reciprocating feed plunger operable in said hopper and its spout for tamping the tobacco into said wrapper and for simultaneously forcing the latter, as it is charged, from the spout, means for releasably retaining the wrapper on said spout during the initial tobacco-charging operation, a depressible member normally disposed in engagement with the lower end of the wrapper to form a closure therefor and adapted to be depressed during the nal charging operation, and an operative connection between said depressible member and said retaining means for releasing the latter from said wrapper during such final charging operation, whereby the cigarette is gradually lowered in step by step fashion relative to the spout, said depressible member being substantially in axial alinement at all times with said spout. Y

2. A cigarette making machine, comprising a tobacco-receiving hopper having a discharge spout adapted to removably support the upper end of a tubular wrapper in telescoped relation thereto, a depressible member disposed in axiallyspaced relation below said spout and at all times substantially axially alined therewith and against which the lower end of the wrapper is adapted to abut, a reciprocating plunger operable in said hopper and its spout for tamping the tobacco into said wrapper and for simultaneously displacing the latter, at a predetermined time in the charging operation, from the spout in a step by step fashion, the depressible memberbeing depressed during the displacement of the wrapper from the spout, and means operatively connected to such member and normally disposed in engagement with the wrapper to retain it on the spout, said retaining means being released from the wrapper when the depressible member is actuated in response to the movement of the tobacco thereagainst. Y

3. A cigarette making machine, comprising a tobacco-receiving hopper having a discharge spout adapted to removably support the upper end of a tubular wrapper in telescoped relation thereto, a reciprocating plunger operable in said hopper and its spout for tamping the tobacco into said wrapper and for simultaneously displacing the latter, at a predetermined time in the charging operation, from the spout in step by step fashion, a releasable gripping element engageable with the wrapper for retaining it on the spout during the initial charging operation, an electric motor including a control switch for transmitting motion to said plunger, and a depressible member operatively connected to said gripping element and said switch and disposedV in the lowering path of travel of the tobacco for actuation thereby to cause, at predetermined thereto, a depressible member disposed in axiallyspaced relation below said spout and against which member the lower end of the wrapper is adapted to abut and which member is adapted to be depressed as the wrapper is charged with tobacco, a reciprocating plunger operable in said hopper and its spout for tamping the tobacco into said wrapper and for simultaneously displacing the latter, at a predetermined time in the charging operation, from the spout in step by step l0 1,413,309

fashion, means for transmitting motion to said plunger including an electric motor having a control switch therefor, and means operatively connecting said depressible member with said switch to effect its automatic opening when such member reaches its wrapper-charged, depressed position.

ELMER F; OETINGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

